Education

Teacher Tantrum

By Elizabeth Rich — March 02, 2009 1 min read
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A Texas teacher has been suspended after a student secretly used a cellphone to record his classroom temper tantrum, reports the El Paso Times. The paper obtained the recording, in which, over the course of several minutes, the educator loses control, “screaming, cussing, and scolding students.”

He tells his students that they are “constantly whining, constantly (expletive) about your (expletive) (expletive) situation. If you don’t like it, get the (expletive) out.” According to the paper, his anger intensifies as he admonishes his class for not working hard enough: “(Expletive) kids grow up, have some common sense. How many times do we have to do this, huh?... [T]his can be so fun, yet you can’t understand that we have to work first. You haven’t done jack all week. I can show you. Your work, man, is pathetic.”

A student left the classroom to report the incident to campus security, who reported the incident to the administration.

One parent said that his daughter told him two months ago that the teacher had used profanity. That incident was reported in an e-mail to the administration, but there was no follow-up. This same parent said that his daughter got “real nervous [this time]. They had to take her to the nurse’s office because she started hyperventilating a little bit, and I know that when something like that happens, there is cause for alarm.”

Update, March 4:
The El Paso Times published the audio of the teacher here.

Update, March 5
According to the El Paso Times, the teacher resigned on March 4, but will be paid through the end of the month. The investigation continues, but the teacher can apply for another job in the district.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Web Watch blog.